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THE REPARATION1 OFFERING!
In I Samuel 4 we have the first-recorded battle
between Israel and the Philistines. The Philistines camped at Aphek about
ten miles east and slightly north of Joppa in the plain of Sharon. Today
it is called Ras el-Ain. Ebenezer, where the Israelites camped, is probably
to be identified with modern day Izbet Sarteh about two miles east of Aphek on
the road to Shiloh.
The Israelites were defeated not once but twice
in this chapter of their history. In the first confrontation they suffered
about four thousand casualties. They regrouped, shored up their position
by bringing in some heavy artillery, namely the ark of the Lord's covenant, and
boldly went out to atone for the previous day. They were defeated again,
this time they lost about thirty thousand men. The tremendous number of casualties,
however, wasn't the worst thing that happened on that day.
To the surprise of both camps the Ark of the Lord
Almighty was captured by the Philistines. The Philistines were surprised
that this God they had heard so much about was vulnerable. The Israelites
were equally surprised, as well as dismayed, for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob was now a POW. Picking up the story in I Samuel 5:1 - 2 we read:
After the Philistines captured the Ark of God,
they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the city of Ashdod. 2
They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside the
idol of Dagon.
It's hard to imagine the ark being treated much
like we would treat a trophy. But we can hardly blame the Philistines. After
the ark was captured it was difficult to find a journalist in either camp
who would have argued that this act was inappropriate. Empirically, the
God of Israel appeared to be weaker than any of the Philistine gods.
But subsequent events would prove both camps mistaken. Israel,
of course, should have known better. The Philistines, unfortunately, learned
the hard way. In vv. 3 - 4 of chapter five we read:
But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it
the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the
Ark of the LORD! So they set the idol up again. 4 But the next morning
the same thing happened-the idol had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD
again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway.
Only the trunk of his body was left intact.
At first, the Philistines thought the prostrate
position of Dagon was just an accident. They picked him up, brushed him
off, and put him back on the shelf. The next day it was the same thing
but this time his head and hands had been severed with the torso lying prostrate
before the Lord. Note, that both the head and the hands were placed where
they couldn't be missed. In the ancient world, severed heads and hands
were battlefield trophies. The head assisted the victor in establishing the correct
body count while the hands gave testimony to others that they were now free from
fear of being harmed. Clearly, Dagon was no match for the living God.
In the weeks and months to follow, the wise
men of the pentapolis, the five cities of the Philistines, were given additional "educational
insight" into the nature of God. They learned rather quickly that
God is a jealous God who will share his glory with no other god. To get
their undivided attention the Lord brought devastation upon the Philistines in
what most scholars believe was an outbreak of the bubonic plague. It's
interesting to note that now both camps were crying for the opposite reasons. The
Israelites were crying because they lost the ark and the Philistines were crying
because they had it.2
Eventually, the Philistines had had enough. They
decided, after seven months, to cut their losses. Though opinions varied as to
who's hand caused the plague a recommended course of action grew out of top-level
discussions. In I Samuel 6:1 - 6 we read:
The Ark of the LORD remained in Philistine territory
seven months in all. 2 Then the Philistines called in their priests and
diviners and asked them, "What should we do about the Ark of the LORD? Tell
us how to return it to its own land."
"Send the Ark of the God of Israel back,
along with a gift," they were told. "Send a guilt offering so the plague
will stop. Then, if the plague doesn't stop, you will know that God didn't send
the plague after all."
"What sort of guilt offering should we send?" they
asked. And they were told, "Since the plague has struck both you and your
five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have
ravaged your land. 5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel.
Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don't
be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. They wouldn't let
Israel go until God had ravaged them with dreadful plagues.
It is interesting to note that even the Philistines
understood that some things need to be made right. In this case, making
things right meant more than simply returning that which had been confiscated. It
meant returning the ark in a manner that repaid God for de-glorifying His name
by putting him on the shelf with other so called "gods" and by compensating
their neighbors for the wrong done to them.
To reestablish God's good name, assuming his good
name had suffered, it was decided to send the ark back to Israel under what appeared
to be impossible conditions. It was to be placed on a cart drawn by two
cows that had never been yoked and had recently given birth to calves. Furthermore,
the calves would be penned up at home.
Now, any farmer will tell you that this is not
going to work. The cows will not only rebel against the unfamiliar yoke,
they'll respond to their motherly instincts and return to their offspring. It
would require a miracle for these cows to do the very opposite of what their
nature dictates.
If such a miracle occurred, and it wasn't likely,
the Philistines would be convinced it was God's mighty hand that was against
them. Also, assuming such a miracle took place God's good name would once
again be held high by all those involved. In a sense, what was rightfully
God's property would be returned to him.
Then, just as God would have it, when the Philistines
turned the cows loose they went directly to Beth Shemesh without turning to the
left or right. Despite their natural inclination to bulk at the unfamiliar
yoke and their instinct to take care of their new born calves they were a model
of obedience to God. And through their obedience God's glory was returned
to its rightful owner.
Additionally, the Philistines leaders, upon counsel,
included as payment for unintentional sin five gold tumors and five gold rats,
one for each major city and ruler. They compensated the Israelites for
wrongly taking what rightfully belonged to them.
This is what Leviticus refers to as the "guilt
offering". But since the other sacrifices also addressed the guilt
of sin it is probably better to call this the "reparation offering" since
it was designed to repair the damage done by sin. That is, it was designed
to repay a debt owed and thereby restore the order of proper relationships.
The ritual and the occasions for its use is spelled
out for us in Leviticus 5:14 - 6:7, we read:
Then the LORD said to Moses, 15 "If
any of the people sin by unintentionally defiling the LORD's sacred property,
they must bring to the LORD a ram from the flock as their guilt offering. The
animal must have no physical defects, and it must be of the proper value in silver
as measured by the standard sanctuary shekel. 16 They must then make restitution
for whatever holy things they have defiled by paying for the loss, plus an added
penalty of 20 percent. When they give their payments to the priest, he will make
atonement for them with the ram sacrificed as a guilt offering, and they will
be forgiven.
"If any of them sin by doing something forbidden
by the LORD, even if it is done unintentionally, they will be held responsible.
When they become aware of their guilt, 18 they must bring to the priest
a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. The animal must have no physical defects,
and it must be of the proper value. In this way, the priest will make atonement
for those who are guilty, and they will be forgiven. 19 This is a guilt
offering, for they have been guilty of an offense against the LORD."
And the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Suppose
some of the people sin against the LORD by falsely telling their neighbor that
an item entrusted to their safekeeping has been lost or stolen. Or suppose they
have been dishonest with regard to a security deposit, or they have taken something
by theft or extortion. 3 Or suppose they find a lost item and lie about
it, or they deny something while under oath, or they commit any other similar
sin. 4 If they have sinned in any of these ways and are guilty, they must
give back whatever they have taken by theft or extortion, whether a security
deposit, or property entrusted to them, or a lost object that they claimed as
their own, 5 or anything gained by swearing falsely. When they realize
their guilt, they must restore the principal amount plus a penalty of 20 percent
to the person they have harmed. 6 They must then bring a guilt offering
to the priest, who will present it before the LORD. This offering must be a ram
with no physical defects or the animal's equivalent value in silver. 7
The priest will then make atonement for them before the LORD, and they will be
forgiven."
Unlike the other offerings only a ram or a male
lamb could be offered as a reparation offering. This restriction is unusual
but judging from v. 15b it may have had something to do with the market value
of the ram or male lamb. For with this offering the value seems to be of
greater importance than the actual procedure. Though admittedly the procedure
is spelled out for us in Leviticus 7:1 - 6.3
The occasions that might prompt someone to bring
this offering is what ought to capture our interest. On the one hand, we
have those violations that are clearly wrong and need to be made right. For
example, if I "borrow" a swiss army knife from my neighbor and conveniently
forget to return it to him, then I am guilty of theft. Or if he hands
it to me as he is getting ready to go through a security gate at the airport
and I then swear by the Lord's name that I lost it, when I haven't, then I am
guilty of theft. When my conscience finally gets the better of me I must
return the knife and in some way compensate him for the wrong done to him. Then,
I must bring a ram of the proper value to the priest so that my sins (plural)
will be forgiven. For not only have I wronged my neighbor, I have devalued
God's name. I have robbed Him of his glory.
On the other hand there are violations against
the "holy things" of the Lord (5:15) where it is difficult to see how
anyone was wronged. Let me give you the prime example. The one that
always appears to me to be a misdemeanor but was definitely chalked up as a felony.
It concerns Moses and Aaron. It is the first
month of Israel's fortieth year and they are without water. As usual Moses
and Aaron turned to God and were told what to do. In Numbers 20:8 - 12
we read:
"You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble
the entire community. As the people watch, command the rock over there to pour
out its water. You will get enough water from the rock to satisfy all the people
and their livestock."
So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff
from the place where it was kept before the LORD. 10 Then he and Aaron
summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. "Listen, you rebels!" he
shouted. "Must we bring you water from this rock?" 11 Then Moses
raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out.
So all the people and their livestock drank their fill.
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because
you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel,
you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!"
Everybody is cranky! Or so it seems to me. Moses
is definitely cranky after spending 40 years in the desert with people whose
only real skill was grumbling! And so he bawled them out and in his anger
he hit the rock. Oh yeah, he and Aaron also took credit for bringing water
out of the rock. So what's the big deal? The Israelites needed
water and Moses saw to it that they and their livestock got their fill. Yes,
Moses by his anger drew all the attention to himself but surely everyone knew
that the real source of the water was God. But surely what Moses did was
merely a misdemeanor!
No, it was a felony. He and Aaron robbed
God of the glory due his name. How about us? In our failure to listen
and obey, do we defraud God? You bet! But we can take steps toward
making things right and the first step is to acknowledge our guilt.
1 rep•a•ra•tion 1. the
act or process of repairing or the condition of being repaired. 2. The
act or process of making amends; expiation. 3. Something done or
paid to compensate or make amends.
2 Then, what made things more difficult for the Philistine
rulers is that their fellow countrymen were starting to ask embarrassing questions. They
asked question like: "Whatever happened to the family who lived down the
street?" The leaders, as you can imagine, were hesitant to answer
for they only had one answer to give. They were compelled to say, "Dey
gone." Your next door neighbor was either dead from the plague
or had moved to a healthier climate!
3 This passage fails to indicate that a male lamb is an
appropriate sacrifice in this case. But Leviticus 14:12 and Numbers
6:12 make it clear that it was evidently a legitimate choice.
LEVITICUS - GOD'S GUIDEBOOK TO WORSHIP 2/19/06 1
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